


Spring into the Living Force

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [239]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 05:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6691393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our lads enjoy an afternoon at a nearby water garden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring into the Living Force

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mythlorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythlorn/gifts).



> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Emila-Wan and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting to the Master Apprentice ML  
> Travis for posting to the Master Apprentice Archive on AO3  
> Alex for inspiring Arcadia
> 
> References:  
> [Gilbert And Sullivan – We Sail The Ocean Blue lyrics](http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/gilbert_and_sullivan/we_sail_the_ocean_blue-lyrics-1148331.html)  
> [Gilbert And Sullivan – When I Was A Lad lyrics](http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/gilbert_and_sullivan/when_i_was_a_lad-lyrics-446448.html)
> 
> Arcadia in the spring:  
> [A Walk in the Park](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1793578)  
> [Spring at Last](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4149960)  
> [Backyard Idyll](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4161846)  
> [Sun and Laughter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4209450)  
> [Princeton Pleasures](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1953021)  
> [Saturday Afternoon Fever](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4365995)  
> [Dusk in Alder Run](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4366010)  
> [The Path by Templeton Way](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4104412)

Green.

Green all around Quinn, nourishing his spirit the way nothing else could, except Ian.

A gentle drizzle had ended a couple of minutes earlier, leaving everything -- leaf, bud, petal -- saturated with minute water droplets. Quinn could *feel* things growing as he walked hand in hand with Ian in the new sunshine. Earth Day had fallen on a Friday this year, and since they had been constrained by work yesterday, today was their chance to celebrate it.

Dressed in Skyhawks t-shirts and shorts, both in heather grey, the professors were soaking up springtime in the Gungan Gardens in Otohwa, which was located in Upstate New York near Poughkeepsie. Quinn had driven them there in the THX ragtop, with the top down so they could enjoy the breeze in all of its fresh glory.

And the breeze came with them on their walk, a welcome unseen companion, lessening the sweat that they normally would have worked up by now. They had on their most comfortable walking shoes, encouraging them to stroll for mile after mile. 'The road goes ever on and on', as Professor Tolkien said, after all. They had been hiking for a couple of hours already and were itching to rest for a little while.

It was a bit after one o'clock on this glorious Saturday towards the end of April, and they were beginning to get peckish. Now was the time for lunch. Quinn was carrying a wicker hamper full of goodies Violet and Prudence had made for them that morning. All they needed was to find the perfect spot for their meal. Since they were on a ridge, it was easy to see the countryside around them. They looked past a meadow, across a field of wild flowers, over a rushing brook -- all riotous with life in the burgeoning spring.

Ian was the first to notice a picnic table nestled in a grove of oak trees in the middle distance. A pleasant fifteen-minute stroll would get them there, with hunger to spare. As they'd seen, the meadow with a brook running through it separated them from the stand of trees. Even though the entrance to the gardens and some of the exhibits had been packed with visitors, they were now in a remote area of the water park, and no one was visible as far as Ian's keen eyes could see.

By the time they neared the grove, they were even hungrier. When they reached the picnic table, the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees in the shade of the oak trees. They delighted in the sudden coolness of an otherwise warm day. Quinn put the hamper down on the redwood table and immediately took Ian into his arms. He gave him a kiss that expressed his joy at being here with his lad, better than any words ever could.

"So eloquent," murmured Ian, and he should know, because his answering kiss was eloquence itself.

Quinn saw a mist of tiny water droplets shining on his laddie's face and started to lick them off with little flicks of his tongue, enjoying the taste of clean skin and clear water, as well as Ian's hums of appreciation. He couldn't resist dipping his tongue into the enticing dimple in his husband's chin, which increased the humming exponentially. After giving a finishing caress to Ian's cheek with his fingers, Quinn smiled into his herven's eyes.

Ian smiled back and nestled into Quinn's chest, his smile deepening when his guid-man ruffled his hair, along with the breeze. "Feels so good, my love," said Ian. He ran his hands up and down Quinn's bare forearms, catching the water drops with his fingertips and spreading them over suntanned skin.

"So do you, Ian," Quinn answered. It was his turn to hum now. "You picked the perfect place for us hobbits to roam this weekend, little lad." He kissed Ian's nose. "I can't imagine Rivendell being more beautiful than this water valley," he said, gazing at the green splendor all around them and breathing it in like oxygen. Photosynthesis, indeed.

"Mmm-hmm," Ian agreed. "But maybe Loth Lorien at the height of its glory could rival it." He had a sudden mental image of Elrond and Galadriel competing for laurels in the pages of 'Better Homes and Gardens', which gave his eyes an added sparkle, what with its vividness.

Quinn pictured the Lorien of his imagination and was loath to disagree. He hugged Ian closer to him, lost in a Tolkien dream for two.

Ian was all but purring now. "Mrs. Chang was raving about it to me when I was her partner in our neighborhood domino tournament last week, so I knew we had to come here for a visit." And Mrs. Chang should know -- she had one of the most beautiful gardens on their block, and Sandy and Artoo were lucky enough to be having fun there this afternoon.

Quinn's own garden in their back yard was wild and exuberant, just like the man was himself as Ian's lover. Ian wouldn't have it any other way.

The sounds of a stomach rumbling punctuated Ian's sentence, and both of them began to laugh.

"Somebody's ready for lunch," Ian teased, patting Quinn's tummy, relishing the feel of his belly laughs, as well as the rumbles.

Quinn nodded. "Last time I ate was about seven hours ago." Artoo had awakened him at dawn with his yipping.

"Well, then, let's dig in," Ian said with gusto.

After another kiss, they sat down on redwood benches opposite each other and started to unpack the wicker hamper. It was like a treasure hunt for goodies that Prudence and Violet had tucked inside for them to find. You could tell the ladies had packed their lunch by the thoughtful little touches they had left for them, along with the wonderful food: blue and green cloth napkins; metal silverware; an aquamarine tablecloth.

Rummaging inside the hamper, the men felt like magicians, pulling out treat after treat.

First, Ian took out sandwiches in zippered pouches: one had havarti with pesto on pumpernickel bread, and the other had a spread of guacamole with chopped vegetables on focaccia bread. Then Ian saw a covered bowl of salad, with tubs of dressing on the side. Meanwhile, Quinn found a Thermos filled with watermelon lemonade. Dessert turned out to be grasshopper brownies with two layers of icing, peppermint and dark chocolate.

Quinn poured the lemonade into the cap of the Thermos and rummaged through the goodies to see if he could find another cup in the hamper. Sure enough, there was a paper cup nestling against the bottom of it, on top of the blue gingham lining. Ever the gentleman, Quinn drank from the cap, leaving the proper cup for his lad.

Since the sandwiches were cut in half, they decided to split them, so they could taste both. Ian began with the focaccia bread, savoring the combination of herbs and avocado. The pesto and cheese sandwich tasted like ambrosia to Quinn, especially after their long walk. It turned out that Quinn liked the pumpernickel better, while Ian preferred the focaccia. The salad had managed to retain its crispness, since the dressing was packaged separately.

By the time they got to the brownies, they were 'filling in the corners', just like the hobbits they always felt like in their souls. Violet and Prudence were sure to get hearty thanks, as well as bouquets of wild flowers, just as soon as the professors got home.

Now that they had satisfied one type of hunger, with another kind banked for now, they looked around them with new interest. A chipmunk darted into the underbrush beneath a nearby tree. A robin came to visit their table, perching close to Quinn without the slightest fear. She sang for them and somehow they understood her universal language of happiness.

After she flew onto a branch of an oak tree close by, they wrapped up their trash and threw it into the garbage can a couple of yards away from their table. They remembered to put the plastics in the recyclable bin next to it, especially here in this pristine parkland. If parks taught a single lesson to their visitors, it should be the conservation of resources, without pollution to sully them. Of course, they made a game of the clean-up, each scoring baskets with their jaunty free throws.

Then they got up and stretched, before heading back towards the park entrance. When they reached a stone bridge over a rushing brook, Ian stopped to take a picture of his husband, with Quinn's eyes matching the intense blue of the water. After they stepped ashore, Quinn returned the favor, with Ian's eyes matching the green-blue of the foliage around them.

Up ahead to their right, Ian saw a topiary garden that they had missed on the way out, since they had chosen a different path back. Maybe it was to capitalize on the popularity of the recent 'Star Wars' movie, 'The Force Awakens', or maybe it was just a coincidence, but the topiaries shared a familiar theme.

Master Yoda stood looking at them, the green of the hedge he was made from a perfect match for the color of his skin. He was surrounded by other Jedi, including Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan themselves. Appropriately enough, Master Qui was the tallest topiary and Yoda the smallest. Whoever had done the sculpting of the hedges was clearly a Master in his or her own right.

Their cameras came out again, as Ian posed with his arm around Qui-Gon's waist, and Quinn posed with his arm over Obi-Wan's shoulders. They both had to take a picture with Yoda, kneeling by his side with the utmost respect. Then the men embraced each other -- with the topiary Jedi in the background -- while Quinn's long arm was holding the camera, trying for the optimum focus, despite Master Yoda's admonition. Click!

It could have all seemed fanciful, but somehow there was a real Jedi vibe in the air, as if they were all in the Room of a Thousand Fountains at the Temple on Coruscant.

"Can't wait to send these to Bant and Eth." Ian could just imagine the look on their friends' faces when they saw them in their element.

"We'll go through these after we get home and pick out the best photos for them," Quinn said. "Case and Evan probably would enjoy them, as well."

After one last look at the Jedi topiary group, which surely epitomized the Living Force, the men continued on towards the entrance of the Otohwa water park. This time, there was a stream intersecting their path. A rowboat was tied to a tree, and the temptation was impossible for them to resist.

Ian untied the rope, and they both clambered into the boat. They each picked up an oar and rowed on alternate sides. Sunlight glistened on water, even as they felt the blessed shade provided by the trees along the banks.

Ian's irrepressible tenor voice sounded out over the water:

"We sail the ocean blue,  
And our saucy ship's a beauty;  
We're sober men and true,  
And attentive to our duty."

Quinn chimed in when he recognized the lyrics from the 'H.M.S. Pinafore' by Gilbert and Sullivan. They had seen this play at Princeton almost a decade ago but still remembered all of the libretto.

Then, with a wink and a nudge to Quinn's non-rowing arm, Ian started in on 'When I Was a Lad', his beautiful voice enchanting Quinn, even as he teased him with the lyrics:

"When I was a lad I served a term  
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.  
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,  
And I polished up the handle of the big front door."

Quinn gave out a combination of a chuckle and a harrumph. "What do you mean by 'was a lad'? I hope you know that you'll always be my lad, Ian." He consciously echoed words Ian had said to him in Princeton nine years earlier. Absolute certainty rang through in Quinn's voice.

"I do, ma herven, I do." Ian consciously echoed his marriage vows.

Quinn got up to kneel by Ian's bench, so he could reach his husband's luscious lips for a kiss. The sun, joining in, glinted off of their wedding bands, as the kiss went on and on, until it felt like May had already come.

Green and blue surrounded them in pure bliss, while they drifted over the water and into an arcadian spring


End file.
